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Annette Reiter and Barbara Rhode

About Us

Barbara Rhode and Annette Reiter are the authors of "Blast Off: Launching Your Child to College & Beyond."
The two psychotherapists and recovering moms travel the country presenting workshops on young adult growth, healthy family development, and overall personal wellness.

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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Cell Phone Images

The Times had an article last week about teens casually sending semi-clothed or nude pictures of themselves through their cell phones. I have been approached by numerous parents lately who have shared their concerns about this new phenomenon. What I did not know until I read that article is that this is considered to be a criminal offense and can land a son or daughter in jail. And perhaps even worse, they can then be labeled as a sexual predator which follows them for years to come. Apparently, this practice has become popular among some of our underage tech savvy kids. And, true to form, they do not have a clue how this kind of exposing impulse can permanently change their lives. So, it is up to us as the coaching presence in their lives, to educate, monitor and even intervene before this kind of behavior takes place. Which means, we need to be a bit savvy ourselves about texting and the sending of cell phone images so we can try (notice, I used the word "try") to stay one step ahead of them. For their own good and ours...

3 comments:

Barbara, I am glad you posted about this. I have dealt with more than one teen and their family regarding this exact issue. Parents need to be careful about bias, both genders participate in these activities. Sexual predator labels can follow a child through a lifetime. This change someday but for now it is a nightmare for many adults.